“Ok, Glass, record a video”: Google provides another glimpse of Glass

Google also re-opens pre-orders for the futuristic glasses.

New information about Google's Project Glass has been coming out in bits and pieces. Today, Google gave us another glimpse into the future lives of people who choose to wear the Android-based augmented-reality headset with a video.

Google has also re-opened pre-orders for the futuristic glasses. While early access was offered at last year's Google I/O conference, now you can apply for an invitation to the "Glass Explorer" program, through an application process to prove that you are "bold" and "creative."

A lot of the video repeats what we already know—that you can take first-person videos and photos of everything you do while wearing the glasses, whether that be playing with your adorable kids, skydiving, being a ballerina or trapeze artist, or flying an airplane.

Along the way, the airplane pilot says "okay, Glass, hang out with the flying club," to bring up a video chat with fellow pilots. A sculptor working with a giant ice block says "Google photos tiger heads" in order to bring up visual inspiration. People get directions on the highway, gate information while running through the airport, technical information about jellyfish at an aquarium, and ask "how do I say delicious in Thai?" while eating Thai food.

It all happens with simple commands, like "okay, glass, record a video." It's hard to imagine it'll all work just as perfectly and smoothly once it hits consumers' hands, but the concept is fun. Take a look:

People cringe and complain of anything from "eye strain" to near-blindness when they have to wear glasses in a movie theater for ninety minutes. But people will be lining up to wear these all day? I doubt it.

Am I the only person on earth who thinks "Ok this would be amusing for like a week and then I'd be bored of it."?

The desire for this seems to be the thought "Boy I wish my smartphone was available to me and in my field of view constantly as I go about my business." but that thought is completely foreign to me. I use my smartphone only when I need to which -- if you don't count playing Temple Run -- isn't even every day. Most of the day I'm sitting at a computer so Glass would be useless during that time.

And when I'm on vacation doing cool stuff I want a break from computers.

This is amazing. I've always wondered, though, how a wearer can focus their eyes on the world and onto the super-up-close display at the same time.

The images aren't really projected onto the glass, such that you have to focus on an image 1 inch away from your eye. The image is not even focused on the glass in front of your eye! Instead there are some fancy optics such that the light reflects off the glass and into your eye at a very steep angle, almost flat. Your eyes actually have to focus "at a distance" in order to resolve the image.

This is amazing. I've always wondered, though, how a wearer can focus their eyes on the world and onto the super-up-close display at the same time.

Infinite focus. Red-dot sights and airplane HUDs work on the same principal, so there's no particular reason it couldn't be done with something like this. In the case of an RDS, trying to focus on the reticle actually makes the reticle defocus.

I think there are already some applications of it, albeit in the excessively bulky & expensive range at the moment. But you have to start somewhere.

This is amazing. I've always wondered, though, how a wearer can focus their eyes on the world and onto the super-up-close display at the same time.

Your eye determines distance (I.e. where you need to focus) by where the rays of light seem to diverge from. As you approach more parallel lines, the image appears to be approaching infinity, the easiest distance for us to see at, because it requires no accommodation. The goal, then, is to create a virtual image near infinity upon which your eyes can easily focus.

One would still have to adjust focus when viewing close objects, but 20 feet or so is close enough to infinity that it wouldn't cause too much strain at that level.

To address the 3-d glasses issue, the real eyestrain comes from your eyes fighting the imaginary depth and forced focus, which shouldn't be as much of an issue with these.

That's not to say these will be completely comfortable to wear all day, but with the opacity down, I would think it would be easy enough to function without switching back and forth between the screen and reality.

While I'm excited about the technology, and the potential for advancing logistics in day-to-day life, I am legitimately concerned about the privacy ramifications involved. It just becomes much less clear as to if somebody is filming [me].

Am I the only person on earth who thinks "Ok this would be amusing for like a week and then I'd be bored of it."?

The desire for this seems to be the thought "Boy I wish my smartphone was available to me and in my field of view constantly as I go about my business." but that thought is completely foreign to me. I use my smartphone only when I need to which -- if you don't count playing Temple Run -- isn't even every day. Most of the day I'm sitting at a computer so Glass would be useless during that time.

And when I'm on vacation doing cool stuff I want a break from computers.

I just don't see this being more than a niche product.

Potentially, this stops being a "smartphone". Thing about this, using otherwise-existing technologies:

You can project a HUD, a form of AR.

You walk into a museum, select the "AR" option, and as you look at paintings and such it pops up additional information, interesting facts, and maybe things like pointing out particular items in the painting ("this smear is a result of the artist being pelted by a teapot his mistress threw because she felt he was ignoring her").

You're riding your bike on a long ride. You have running data about speed, heartrate, and all that useful stuff. You're not intimately familiar with the route, and have guidance up. You decide you're hungry, and ask it for a nearby sandwich shop; it immedately adds that to your route, and projects your turns and such over the road.

That kind of thing is the end goal for projects like Glass, not Angry Birds.

I'm also wondering if the computer part can be removed temporarily in situations where possessing recording devices is prohibited.

Just take the unit off. What use is it without the computer bit?

If it had a prescription lens component, I would only want one pair of glasses to wear, not an extra set for the special circumstance mentioned.

You didn't say anything about prescription lenses.

Based on the size, I don't see why it couldn't be mounted to an earpiece and removed as needed. I mean, it's basically mounted on a set of lensless frames already. If it's using a similar technique to red dot sights, the distance from your eye shouldn't matter beyond looking smaller (you can focus through it the same regardless of distance), and I wouldn't think the 1cm or so difference between "normal placement" and "other side of the glasses" would be far enough to be noticeable.

I wear prescription glasses and if I were to engage in half of the dynamic lifestyles depicted in this video, I would be having to buy new ones each week! How you suppose to keep them on while on a trapeze?

It's cool, but absent any desire to video your life, is it useful? For photos, "ok glass, take a picture" is kind of slow to say to get an action shot. Convenient that it's right there, but still not quick. The idea that you can search X and get an immediate relevant result is not reflected by my experience using Google Search or Google image Search. I can often eventually get a useful result, but not so often the first result.

If I'm going to put tech on my face, I want it to be useful often. I don't see the purpose yet. Other than a slimmed down action cam.

I think the best application is augmented reality mapping. Label streets and buildings, 1-5 star ratings on businesses, compass indicator, turns. I don't know if the little screen is usable for that though.

On one hand, I can see men rushing to get this, no, not because theyre geeks and like shiney toys, but because our (western) society is only ever half a breath away from screaming molestor/rapist at them, especially if they work with kids. It'd be fanstatic to have recordings of exactly what went on, rather than the he said/she hystrionics we commonly get. Police cars have dash cams, increasingly Ive been seeing security guards (castle court, belfast) walking around with not just the walkie/talkie or earpiece, but with a camera on the headset (kinda like those from the film Aliens). A consumer/easily avilable product that lets you record this stuff, fan fricking tastic, gimme gimme gimme.

If it can interface with applications correctly, it`ll be great - a visual indicator you have a call coming in, grand, a `floating` speedo reading for when youre driving - great idea, popping up reminders / upcoing appointments - great. Streaming the latest game of thrones.... ehhh not such a great idea, especially as morons would be tempted to watch whilst driving - they already do things like read books/newspapers, shave, put on make up, eat breakfast out of a bowl - all behind the wheel.

On the downside, no more anonimity in public, facial recognition software and google glass could be 1984 writ large. We already have problems with visual communications, witness Apple's Facetime falling afoul of the HIPAA laws - google glass will run directly into similar problems.

That said, I _really_ want to play with them, I may not be living an absolutely wild life, but I do excel at coming up with new and creative ways of (ab)using things.

The thing about the sculptor is interesting. In digital 3D work you often have orthographic views superimposed on your workspace and you can use those as a reference, so imagine being able to do that with physical 3D work, like clay

This is somewhat interesting technology, but it's going to be a toy for a few nerds at best. It's going to bomb spectacularly as a real product. And let's be honest. I don't want to be around anybody wearing them, because I want to have some indication of when video is being recorded. I know that some people are having nerdgasms over these, but their actual real-world use case is VERY limited and they present lots of other problems, including liability for both Google and the wearer. Anyone who thinks these are going to be a successful product is smoking something funny.

I'm afraid I have to be negative on this; I can't see this being useful for at least a couple of years since there is so much technology necessary which isn't really close yet.

Toughest one being that Google would have to make a massive breakthrough in natural speech recognition, but also getting this in a really small package, making good displays, and last but not least making this something which will not seem extremely geeky in a bad way ;-)